United Kingdom -- The Queen's Gallantry Medal has been the United Kingdom's third level award for bravery, after the George Cross and the George Medal, since 1974. The only study of the Queen's Gallantry Medal conducted to date has just been released in the form of a book titled: 'For Exemplary Bravery' written by Nick Metcalfe MBE, QGM.

The book consists of stories of extraordinary bravery that earned the Queen's Gallantry Medal on 1,044 occasions. All of its recipients are listed and all of the published citations are included, with explanatory notes, personal recollections from many of the recipients, and the details of their other awards and medals. Also included are citations never before published. Thirteen appendices provide first-hand accounts of the events behind some of the acts of bravery--bomb disposal, rescuing others from the sea and from fire, and even repelling pirates in the Indian Ocean.

The work commences with a short history of United Kingdom gallantry awards, primarily those awarded for gallantry by civilians or by military personnel 'not in the face of the enemy'. It explains in detail, for the first time, why the Queen's Gallantry Medal was instituted to replace awards in the Order of the British Empire 'for Gallantry'. It also explains why the Royal Warrant was amended in 1977 to allow for posthumous awards. It explores the relationship between the Queen's Gallantry Medal and other awards for gallantry in the Honours Systems of the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies, British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth realms. Based on research at the Royal Mint, the design of the medal, the artists involved and details of the medal's production are also examined. The original artwork for the reverse design is revealed, as are alternative designs proposed for the ribbon.

The book is lavishly illustrated with pictures of the recipients, images from the scenes of the incidents where they reacted so gallantly, and full colour photographs of many of their medals groups on over 100 full-colour pages.

In the Foreword to "For Exemplary Bravery," Sir Ronnie Flanagan GBE, QPM, former Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross and the first Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, writes: 'I consider this fine book to be a deserved tribute to all recipients of the QGM. I commend it to all.'

Professor Bernard de Neumann, mathematician and an authority on the recipients of the Sea Gallantry Medal, wrote: 'This profusely illustrated book...should be of great interest to anyone interested in what motivates those of humankind who have deliberately placed their own lives in danger for the sake of others. The author is to be congratulated on a most remarkable and valuable work.'

The author, Nick Metcalfe MBE, QGM, was born in Northern Ireland into a family that for generations had worked in the linen mills of County Armagh and County Antrim. He was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1982. In a successful military career, over the course of 27 years, he served all over the world. He was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal in 1989 and the MBE in 1997. He retired in 2009.